Every Life Matters
Posted: May 08, 2015
We had another tragic occurrence in Edgar County last week. It’s very sad when we lose someone, for whatever reason. But it’s especially tough to lose our young ones, especially under such circumstances.
I know this is a pretty touchy subject, and there’s been a lot of speculation about why this young man felt he had no other options. We may never know what led him to the decision to take his own life.
And that’s the other tragedy. We just don’t know. In times like these, we try to go back in time, looking for reasons. Sometimes, we can piece together signs leading up to it. But often, it’s just unexplainable.
I don’t know what was going on with this young man. I didn’t know him. But I’ve read lots of Facebook posts from others who said he always had a smile, and that he always made them smile.
That makes the situation even harder to understand. But all of us know you can be smiling on the outside, but really hurting on the inside. We’ve all done that.
It’s easier to keep people at arms length. Whether we’re just extremely private, or we’re worried what they might think, we put on a show.
We never let them inside to see how we really feel. When asked how we’re doing, we say we’re fine, when inside, we’re really dying.
This has to stop. We need to learn how to reach out, and to open up, especially when we’re hurting. Because that’s when we’ll find the grace, hope and love we need.
But our community needs to reach out too. I’m speaking of the smaller community right around us. These are our families, our schools, church groups, extra-curricular groups, and our peers, too.
We need to pay more attention, and stay more engaged with each other. We need to dig deeper and really know what’s going on, so no one has to feel like they’re alone.
We have to make it a priority to take the time to get to know each other. And we have to do it now. Our lives depend on it, and every life matters.